UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek The Original Series - S2E16 The Gamesters of Triskelion
Added 2022-10-05 12:30:39 +0000 UTCWe are back at it and this week we watched The Gamesters of Triskelion
Early Access for YouTube edits of this episode and Firefly episode 4 still to come this week
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Comments
TOS Sex Scoreboard Shawna! You got Kirked Kirk 6 new +1 Chekov 2 Bones 1 Spock 1 Extra: It is a stretch to find some of screen time for the S and M play to happen but I think there is enough to justify a +1 for Kirk. I mean she was not really wearing enough to get in the way that it might have happened when they were training. I am guessing the figure four leg lock was a figure 5 leg locked. Now Uhura is not getting one because she was NOT having Lars/chad. Chekov could have a one (did he do it?). I say no because he was to scared of TaMoon/Bertha. I think he was shriveled more than a Moscow winter.
Prof Moff
2024-12-03 14:42:57 +0000 UTCIt's kind of an out there episode, but I guess you have to admire the willingness to try new things. The stuff happening on the ship didn't accomplish much, but it was fun to see Scotty give Spock a little bit of attitude at a couple points. Still credit to Spock, this is one of the better examples of him in command. His reasoning led them right to the away team, not that it did much good, but I guess it opened the door for Kirk's solution. Yeah the subplot with Shahna was pretty predictable, but I still felt bad for her at the end. The actress, Angelique Pettyjohn, also had a rough life. She allegedly had an affair with Elvis Presley resulting in a child(given the birth date, it would have been shortly after he 18th birthday). To avoid damaging his career, Presley's manager pressured her to abort the pregnancy. She refused, but agreed to keep it under wraps and put the child up for adoption. AFAIK she had no other children. Her career stagnated and declined after Trek, and she ended up doing a stint in porn in the 70s that was a low point in her life. She ended up depressed, living in an isolated house abusing alcohol and drugs. After The Motion Picture came out, the Trek convention circuit started up and since this episode had some popularity in the fanbase, she was invited to attend. The fanbase ended up being very welcoming, and she carved out a living working the convention circuit. The positivity of the Trek fanbase helped her overcome her depression and substance abuse and somewhat put her life back together in the last decade of her life. She gained some recognition on the convention circuit and landed some roles in indie movies. She died in 1992 of cancer at just 48 years old. Like I said, she had a sad life, but it's heartwarming to know that this little old show she spent a week shooting scenes for would lead to her having some peace in her life at least.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-04-17 09:48:50 +0000 UTCNot one of my faves, but I do like that it puts Uhura in the landing party and gives her a lot to do.
MntrTodd
2022-10-06 21:10:36 +0000 UTCThis was a new director and a new writer. Behind the scenes people were jumping ship NBC had enough of the drama. The new writer's favorite character was Uhura. The director was not asked back.
Jonathan
2022-10-06 03:19:19 +0000 UTCAh yes, another of the many Liked it as a Kid, Cringe at it as an Adult. Every alien woman just has to be a seductress in a skimpy outfit that swoons, and as soon as Kirk gets close enough to kiss her, she flips and helps him, but there must still be a tearful goodbye. Some will stick out as well done, like Edith Keeler, and there's another one coming up. Others it's just pure 'ugh here we go again'.
Firekrys FWO
2022-10-06 02:59:10 +0000 UTCI die laughing every time I see A Piece Of The Action. Not a favorite but very watchable just for the humor. No one could have pulled the part off like Shatner.
Ricky Johnson
2022-10-06 00:50:41 +0000 UTCAs you can see from the female thrawls the 60s network censors were back watching how the women dressed and unlike Uhura in Mirror Mirror where we saw her navel the shorts they wore came high up to cover their navels. It makes you wonder who had sexual thoughts about a woman's bellybutton to make them go off the deep end and say cover them up!
Brad Barter
2022-10-05 22:56:56 +0000 UTCThis episode came close to being the last ever made. It was the end of a production block, and on the day the last scene was shot there were rumors circulating that NBC had decided not to order any more episodes. Angelique Pettyjohn wrote (or so I’m told) that a lot of sadness was going around on set so it was easy for her to cry during her closeup.
James H
2022-10-05 22:36:20 +0000 UTCAnother 'meh' episode for me. I get rather annoyed with the whole Kirk-babe scenario played out ad nauseum: Kirk: "Let me tell you about love." Female: "What is love?" Kirk moves in on said female and off camera sex ensues. I wonder if Shatner had a stipulation in his contract to have one attractive female at least every other episode the he could hit on. Wait for Bread and Circuses for a big 3 fighting off the locals. Next up: another comedic palate cleansing.
Collin Freeman
2022-10-05 19:14:20 +0000 UTCYes, it was mostly budget and scripts. The shows back then always had to fill entire seasons and had to do the episodes on the fly. They didn't have entire season scripts ready like shows do nowadays. You had a week to shoot and you better find a script. So if they didn't have a good one ready they just had to make the best of what they had lying around, so sometimes they just didn't have the best stuff every week. And this is something that will plague these shows right up to the end. I like modern shows more that only do 10-15 episode seasons and really pick their scripts well in advance and do the season properly. It gives the episodes more focus and keeps the quality more consistent. The positive side I guess is that you have a lot of variance in themes in the older shows so sometimes you get episodes that are kinda crap but resonate with some viewers for whatever reason and become a classic and favorite for them, sometimes, like some of those objectively bad movies we all know but for some reason just like to re-watch. TNG will certainly struggle with this also, especially in the first two seasons, but the quality will become a bit more consistent across all the shows after that, and the average quality will increase along with the budgets. But even then, when you watch making of interviews, TNG is reporting about the same, sometimes not having a good script for a specific week and the crew pretty much not liking the episode at all but it's all they had to work with that week.
Andreas Schmitt
2022-10-05 17:54:31 +0000 UTCNot my favorite episodes, but the topic of slavery was probably rather important to the show since it was running back in the 60s during the civil rights movements. As a European watcher those episodes always fell a bit flat for me. His also didn't have the greatest writing. But it's not the worst episode.
Andreas Schmitt
2022-10-05 17:48:38 +0000 UTCYes Dale, it never gets old !
John Schmitt
2022-10-05 17:35:41 +0000 UTCI totally agree John. The next one is definitely in my top 5.
Dale Williams
2022-10-05 17:34:25 +0000 UTCI'm interested to see what you think of the next one, Piece of the Action. It's one of my favorite episodes, but I can see where it might rub you the wrong way. Shatner chews up the screen in the second half.
John Schmitt
2022-10-05 16:33:42 +0000 UTCFair, but some of the best Star Trek episodes so far have had great pacing.
Josh (Target Audience)
2022-10-05 16:03:56 +0000 UTCIt is somewhat difficult to deal with the pacing of older shows vs. what is produced now. Especially a show like this that had little network support and even less of a budget.
Chas Summers
2022-10-05 14:29:51 +0000 UTCIt was a surprisingly good ending I wasn’t expecting it
Josh (Target Audience)
2022-10-05 14:25:37 +0000 UTCThe actress that played Shahna had a baby with Elvis whom she put up for adoption. He tours singing his father's songs now... Google it.
Michael Nemo
2022-10-05 13:29:29 +0000 UTCMy favorite part is Shena's speach at the end - staring into space. I always love the the episodes with the old school fight scenes - a bit corny today but it really does define the Star Trek "feel". As a side note, The actress playing Shena was in a few movies and TV shows after this but fell on hard times in the mid 70s and became a porn star - very different back then - it was a bit scandalous.
Ricky Johnson
2022-10-05 12:55:51 +0000 UTC
